Opening Ceremony photo by Ju Yi

Opening Ceremony photo by Wang Yuming

Same as the painting and calligraphy By Shi Hu, this display granted spectators a lot of unexpectedness and an exception. In normal conditions, we employed “be crowned with complete success” in covering one display. Yet how to count it as a success? The display by Shi Hu would rather restore the true face of “success” than annotate the idea of “success” in his specific pattern.

Part One

Five halls of exhibition were elaborately designed, meanwhile they invited spectators to enjoy achievements of exploration by Shi Hu in the current years; his calligraphic works were enchased in the main hall, and the wash painting of human body, landscape painting, oil painting etc all in around.

Above all, his jumbo calligraphic works were displayed in the main hall, this was unexpected, in ordinary, the main hall was for the so called representative works, but Mr. Shi Hu had great originality, he showed his calligraphic works here different from the usual pattern. Enchasing the most contentious calligraphic art in the main hall declared his self-confidence; meanwhile for the spectators, the forced feeling of a leader made me think of one sentence: “craftsman duplicates the reality, genuine artist leads the reality.” Shi Hu dared to surpass himself in art field, he was the contentious artist nowadays. This pattern also conformed to his consistant style of art.

When enjoying his calligraphic works, spectators may be unexpected, or ignorant, or puzzled……art works refined the mind, that was the true effect, Shi Hu made the spectators learn from the experience. I found the display by Shi Hu restored its true face of “success” being utterly forgotten.

At the same time, spectators pondered over the works, as the works stirred up the discussion over concept of art, this really meant the success of art display.

I once used the “sublime , moving & tragic” to describe his calligraphy in my article, whether the calligraphic review, self-created poem or the Shaanxi local melody, his series of works couldn’t be concluded only as the art of Chinese charater, the modern calligraphy or Japanese school of calligraphic structure. Above all, his works were not only confined to individual vision, but to harmonize procedure of creation, to chase the entire momentum and conception; in fact, like grass script by Wang Duo and Fu Shan, his works stressed the momentum, expressed the mood and status of the artist’s life by the manners and lines. In one word, it was an integrated work of calligraphy, perhaps he ran in the front place; but it definitely was not the “Japanese school of calligraphic structure” who madly clinged to presentation of structure, nor the modern calligraphy which merely paid attention to the visual schematism.

His works unfolded horizon over calligraphic tradition. Our calligraphic works were not merely the ones of the assumed calligraphers in thistory of Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, nor merely those official scripts in Han Dynasty or tablet inscriptions of the Northern Dynasties. I found that his works had not only the modernity, but also were agitated with flavour of tradition; the charm of the tablet inscriptions of six dynasties, the plainness of folk calligraphy and the mysterious flavour of culture, all those drifted away from his works. So his works opened another door to comprehend the tradition.

Part Two

His landscape painting was new task except the wash painting of human body, his landscape painting were incompletely like the traditional ones, but they were extracted and purified from the elements of landscape and that was the landscape in mind. So I wrote “faintly to distinct the mountain peaks” in another article which meant he didn’t copy the nature, but a new feeling of the nature by an artist, using his unique language of ink, giving us different experience of appreciation and commotion in the mind.

Part Three

“Three thousangs spectators, opening ceremony with one sentence of address” was the symbolic impression by this display. In this display, the officials, guests and celebrities didn’t line up, or give speech, or cut the ribbon on the stage, but only as the common spectators.

When spectators waiting for the opening ceremony, the artist in black wind coat and with long hair floating in the air, walking with vigorous strides-- Mr. Shi Hu said loudly: “My works and I welcome you.” then waving his hand, “Please!” turned back and got into the hall of display. There was no time to react, spectators followed him rush into the hall. All the celebrities of painting and calligraphy were as same as the spectators, so there were only the art works and spectators here.

It is said that was the most direct, most self-confident, entirely new opening ceremony. Ahead of the door of National Art Museum, there were no baskets of flowers, no jumbo poster, no red carpet, but only two flying pieces of plain gauzes printed with part of calligraphy by the artist, and the Art Museum became abnormally solemn and a low-key aloofness & arrogance.

Currently the so called “be crowned with complete success” meant that many great leaders, celebrities attended the opening ceremony, or that all the works were sold out; this display shouldn’t only be described with “be crowned with complete success”. It should be the most disputed display in the history of Art Museum, the most specific and confident one, then, could it be counted as success?

When walking out of the hall, I met the writer Lao Cun, he told me ： “If this display have happened 3000 years ago, all of us should dance and sing joyfully, thus to merge with the display into one organic whole, to express our mood after the display.”The feeling he said was just the one what I looked for words to represent, but I had not found the words yet. The true feeling that the display offered us-- the eruption of mood told me that the display by Shi Hu broke through the conventional formula or concept and interlinked between art and spectators and restored the essence of art display: the collision of feeling which the energy of artist and the works themselves granted to spectators , not other thing.